Prior to the advent of hybrid working the provision of employee catering was often seen as an expensive service with many clients looking to make savings over time by passing the costs onto employees.
The landscape around workplace catering has changed significantly over the last two years with employers increasingly using workplace benefits as a 'hook' to both retain employees and to help drive workplace attendance without introducing mandatory return to work rules.
The labour market continues to be very much employee led, with employers having to work hard to recruit and retain their staff across all industries. Whilst pay is increasing at its fastest rate since 2001 employers are also turning to other benefits to assist in keeping good staff - and finding new ones. Offering high quality, low priced food at work is an extremely efficient benefit compared to increasing wages with additional costs of employment on top.
Many clients have opted to enhance their services by investing into refurbished spaces and increasing their service scope as well as lowering tariffs to increase the relative value of their catering - particularly with the current challenges around the cost of living and high food inflation. In the past with full office complements this would have sometimes been a high cost option but increasingly with smaller head counts due to flexible working the impact of the reduced sales revenue is reduced creating a compelling cost/benefit option. Additionally employees are spending more when they are at work, even though they may be using the restaurant less frequently
Finally with some employees spending fewer days in the office the scope for providing more workplace experiences has increased, a great catering partner will be able to support clients with added value services such as team building masterclass events, cookery demos and supplier events.
If you need help or advice with your catering services then please drop us a line, we would love to chat about the art of the possible with you.
Comments